Iraq has nine million public employees who receive their monthly salaries on time via bank cards, yet economists say that the banking sector in Iraq remains weaker compared to neighboring countries, with citizens, employers, and investors still lacking sufficient trust in its reliability
Channel8 revealed details about the bank accounts in Iraq, with the process commencing in 2016 and concluding in 2023.
According to Iraqi banking statistics, there are over 15 million bank accounts in the country, with more than 1.2 million accounts created in the first nine months of last year.
According to the Central Bank of Iraq, the country successfully opened bank accounts for over nine million employees through 43 private and government banks within a span of six years.
There are a total of 78 government and private banks in the country, including seven government banks, along with 28 private Islamic banks, 25 commercial banks, 16 foreign commercial banks, and two foreign Islamic banks. Collectively, these banks operate 891 branches across Iraq, as per a report by the Central Bank of Iraq.
In 2016, the Iraqi Council of Ministers decided to distribute salaries to employees of all ministries through bank accounts. The implementation officially began in October 2017 and ended in November 2023.
As per the decision, all employees are provided with their own bank cards, facilitating the receipt of their salaries through banks, private gateways, and ATM machines. This grants them the freedom to receive their salaries anywhere and at any time, both within and outside Iraq.
According to the general budget law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, the number of Iraqi employees exceeds nine million. Their salaries have been deposited in banks over a period of five years.
